Period Tracker Reviews: Clue

Has anyone ever tried to chart their fertility before? Those who have put stickers on a calendar and then tried to do some maths will be reassured to know there’s an app for that. Period trackers allow you to record the days of your period in order to map your fertility, allowing you to better observe trends and quirks in your cycle that might affect other areas of your life. The app will often predict when you’re due to ovulate or notify you if you’re late, and most of them have a function for recording other period-related physical idiosyncrasies as well.

Why track your fertility?

Because knowledge = power! Being aware of the fluctuations in your body is never a bad thing. Of course, people who might be particular invested in the nuances of their cycle might be those who want a backup to other methods of birth control (or perhaps trying to go the non-hormonal route) and want to avoid having sex during their fertile window. Conversely, you might be trying to figure out when the best time is to have sex in order to conceive. Or maybe you just want to keep track of a bunch of other symptoms to see if there are any weird bodily inclinations that may relate to your cycle or lifestyle in general.

Basically, anyone with a uterus can benefit from taking notes detailing the weird stuff that happens to their bodies during their period. As with everything, there’s like a million different kinds out there, and most of those are mediocre. Fear not! I downloaded a few free apps to try so that you don’t have to (but only the highest-rated ones; I’m not a monster). This will be a four-part review of the top apps for Android available at the Play store, with an overview of their features and which app might be good for your way of life.

 

Clue

Clue was the first period tracker I ever used, and therefore I’m most familiar with it. It’s got a really cool gender-neutral design that doesn’t scream “BEHOLD, I AM DOING LADY THINGS WITH MY FLOWERY PINK LADY APP NOW,” and the icon looks a bit like a drawing of an atom trying to be a mandala. Because of this it’s pretty discreet, with a minimal, primary-coloured aesthetic that makes it quite stylish.

I still find Clue about the easiest to use out of the four I have tried, although I may be biased because I’ve been using it for the longest time. Initially, the app asks you for an approximate duration of your cycle and the length and date of your last period, but if you don’t remember the app will set averages and learn your personal traits by itself. This is the age of AI, people. Your period tracker is smarter than the computer that first sent people into space.
The app’s no-fuss circular interface gives you an overview of your current cycle at a glance, with ovulation indicated by a little starburst and PMS as clouds, and you can also scroll through a calendar view to get better perspective on previous periody activity. It also allows you to track a myriad of symptoms, from basic stuff like intensity of flow to energy levels, cravings, sex drive and stool quality (fun). I quite liked the humour inherent in all the little icons – the worried diarrhoea face always gets me, and the symbol for sex is a person lying in the classic ‘Fabio’ pose. There is a truly dizzying array of symptoms available to track, but I like the way that you can customise the ones available in the menu so that you don’t spend forever scrolling in search of a way to forever immortalise your gassiness. Additionally, the symptoms selected appear in a clearly visible but uncluttered way on the cycle circle (heh), allowing you to view how you felt on a particular day without the interface getting messy.

Clue allows you to set notifications for stuff like your imminent fertile window, good times to check Basal Body Temperature for those next-level ovulation nerds, and friendly reminders to do a breast exam or take your pill. I am also super down with the way that there’s an informative little information sign on the upper corner of the screen that leads you to a sciencey page that explains the relevance of that specific function – with references!

Recently, they upgraded to include a community function, allowing you to share your all your gory details with friends who also have the app. I don’t use this at all myself, but it might be cool for partners to stay informed on their respective cycles and those of ... their ... friends? To be honest, this function isn’t relevant in my life so I don’t understand its usefulness, but points for making bleeding a social activity. I mean, you could just tell the world how you’re constipated yet simultaneously saddled with an elevated sex drive and a heavy flow via social media, but where’s the fun in that?

 

You’ll love Clue if:

• You want a minimalist aesthetic that still gives you everything you need
• You want a non-binary design that isn’t obviously periody
• You like having access to some information that explains the salient points of fertility and body stuff that isn’t gendered

FYI

Clue's website and Twitter.